DILLSBORO, Ind. — A man for whom police searched through rural areas in Dearborn County last week is accused of murdering the man his ex began dating, the Dearborn County Prosecutor's Office announced.
The Dearborn County Sheriff's Office alerted residents near Hueseman Road that deputies were searching for a person of interest in a death investigation, who may have been armed; After hours of searching, the sheriff's office said it had found and arrested 33-year-old Brent David Wellman.
According to the Dearborn County Prosecutor's Office, Wellman now faces a murder charge for the death of 39-year-old Dennis Adams Jr., of Erlanger, Ky.
Prosecutors said events began unfolding in the evening hours of August 13 into the early morning of August 14, at the home of Wellman's ex-girlfriend in North Vernon, Indiana. Adams and the woman both heard a noise "that she compared to someone breaking into her residence," according to a press release from the prosecutor's office.
The two searched outside, but did not find anyone and concluded the noise had been harmless, prosecutors said. Adams then left the home for work at around 4:45 a.m.
People in the area began calling 911 at around 5:42 a.m. to report suspicious activity involving a vehicle, and the sound of gunshots. One called reported seeing a vehicle stopped on US-50.
Another reported seeing a blue vehicle stopped in the high speed lane of US-50. That caller told dispatchers that when he'd approached the vehicle, he saw the driver's side door was open and the man in the driver's seat had blood on his pants and face. A second man was crawling to the front seat from the back, the caller told dispatchers. The 911 caller said he left the area, but believed the vehicle was heading down Texas Gas Road.
When the Dearborn County Sheriff's Office arrived, they found a vehicle sitting stationary in the road on US-50, facing the opposite direction to deputies. When deputies approached the bright blue vehicle, the driver avoided eye contact and did not answer questions; he then sped away on Hueseman Road.
Around 6 a.m., someone called 911 to report that a bright blue SUV had crashed on Hueseman Road; when deputies got there, they found the vehicle empty; the Kentucky license plate on the vehicle came back as belonging to Adams.
Over on US-50, where residents had reported hearing gunshots, deputies located a shoe, prosecutors say. During closer inspection, deputies found Adams dead in the woods with what appeared to be a gunshot wound to his right upper back or shoulder area.
Law enforcement agencies launched the search for Wellman, and he was found by Indiana State Police in Laughry Creek, wearing only underwear, according to the press release.
An autopsy done on Adams determined that he died from injuries caused by multiple gunshot wounds.
Prosecutors said Wellman's ex-girlfriend had recently begun dating Adams, who'd spent the night at her place the night before he was murdered. Prosecutors also allege Wellman had called the woman multiple times in the days leading up to Adams' murder, including to try to coordinate a visit with the child they have together.
